core

### Constructing a Cast Ellipse

You can construct an ellipse by changing any given feature into an ellipse. PC-DMIS constructs the ellipse at the centroid of the input feature. If a sheet metal point is used, the major diameter is the probe diameter. For some sheet metal features (such as slots and notches), the width is used as the major diameter. For features that do not have a width (lines, points, etc.), a value that is four times the probe diameter is used. The minor diameter is the length of the input feature. For features that do not have a length (points, circles, etc) a default length of 1 is used.

You can modify the major and minor diameters of the ellipse; this changes the ellipse from DEPENDENT to INDEPENDENT. This means that when the ellipse is executed that the major and minor diameters do not change based on the input feature but are independent of the input feature, while the position and vector remain dependent on the input feature. This allows you to have control over the diameters in cases where the input feature doesn’t really have a diameter, such as a point. The DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENT field is a toggle field you may change.

PC-DMIS uses these diameter values for all calculations instead of the default diameter values as described above.

To construct a cast ellipse:

1. Access the Construct Ellipse dialog box (Insert | Feature | Constructed | Ellipse).

2. Select the Cast option.

3. Select at least one features of any type.

4. Click the Create button.

The Edit window command line for this option would read:
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,CAST,feat_1,(DEPENDENT | INDEPENDENT)